31.   Many upstate politicians practically trip over one another in their scramble for state contracts to build prisons, which would largely house inmates from New York City.

32.   Next year, the federal government will require states to have a plan for regularly testing prisoners and parolees to qualify for federal funds to build new prisons.

33.   Pataki said that many other states house maximum-security prisoners two to a cell and that it can be perfectly safe if the state builds new prisons with larger cells.

34.   Prisons were built, cells were crammed to bulging, and the drug trade flourished as never before.

35.   Residents of New York City and its suburbs would shudder at the thought of having a prison built in their neighborhoods.

36.   School systems deteriorate while tax dollars build new prisons.

37.   So they hire more cops, pass mandatory-sentencing laws and build more prisons.

38.   So we build prisons and legislate stiffer sentences.

39.   State officials argue that turning to corporate America will save taxpayers because the private sector can build prisons faster and it is not hamstrung by a costly governmental bureaucracy.

40.   Student fees will build those prisons.